Two more Kiwi earn place in World Surf League
- Apr 20
- 2 min read
Taranaki's Tom Butland and local Raglan surfer Alani Morse have secured wildcards for the Raglan leg of the WSL World Tour next month.
The two surfers won their respective divisions at the King and Queen of the Point event at Manu Bay.
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Butland, 24, battled through a field of 112 surfers in the Open Men's Division while 15-year-old Morse topped a field of 32 surfers in the Open Women's Division.
Butland and Morse join Raglan surfer Billy Stairmand as the three Kiwi representatives in the World Surf League event, the first of its kind in New Zealand.
Butland stormed to victory in the final after a slow start, scoring 8.50 then a 7.87 to jump into the lead ahead of Elliot Paerata, Kora Cooper and Tao Mouldey.
"Yeah, pretty special, I don't even know where to start out. I'm pretty stoked," said Butland.
"The conditions put it on for us in our final, and boys were ripping.
"It's wild to think about the wildcard, I'm kind of tripping on it, eh, I can't even believe it, to be honest."
Morse was the youngest of the women's finalists and she left it until her last wave with less than a minute remaining to score a 6.93 and jump from fourth to first.
"I was in tears after that final" said Morse.
"I just knew that I was gonna get a wave at the end, so I was kind of just waiting, like I was at peace with the whole heat, and I know everyone was stressing on the beach, but I knew God had it under control and... yeah, I can't believe what just happened."
"The May event (WSL) is a big opportunity. It's really exciting. Yeah, I'll be able to push myself against some really amazing surfers, so I'll be really excited and training for all that."
Alani Morse made the Under 20 Girls Division final count with a strong performance at her local break. Her finals performance was highlighted by a 6.83 point ride to round out the 20 minute heat.
Morse secured the win over Lola Groube (Pau) in second, Maya Mateja (Rag) in third and Kyra Wallis (Piha) in fourth.
The heritage heat was claimed by Raglan local and New Zealand surfing icon Daniel Kereopa who navigated the six person final the best, Kereopa was joined by two-time champion Tom Carroll, famous DJ Dimity Stoyle, Backdoor Surf founder Geoff Hutchison, Luke Cederman and WSL wildcard surfer Billy Stairmand.
The WSL Corona Cero New Zealand Pro takes place from 15-15 May at Manu Bay and features the top 60 surfers in the world.
